Genetic links fail to predict heart disease risk, says study
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 | 2:48 PM ET
CBC News
Genetic variations thought to predict a higher risk of heart disease could not be confirmed, according to a new study that failed to support the potential risk factors identified in previous research.
Investigators in the U.S. studied the genetic profiles of nearly 1,500 people, looking for 85 gene variations that earlier studies suggested may increase risk for heart disease.
Only one of the gene variants showed even a slight statistical link for acute coronary syndrome or ACS, Dr. John Spertus, a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and his colleagues report in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Clinical tests 'premature'
"We therefore conclude that our findings, in this large sample … cannot support that this panel of gene variants contains bona fide ACS risk factors," the study's authors wrote.
"Our findings come at a critical juncture in complex disease genetics," the researchers said, noting clinics already offer genetic tests for some of the potential mutations studied, despite no clear link.
"However, our findings suggest that such clinical genetic testing is premature and underscore the importance of robust replication studies of reported associations prior to their application to clinical care."
Until recently, researchers have guessed at what parts of the human genome might be linked to heart disease and then searched for genes that could be linked.
Advances in technology are now allowing genome-wide studies, where the entire genome is screened. The new approach may offer an unbiased way to look for large samples of mutations that are significantly linked to disease risk, the study's authors said.
Their genetic analysis looked at 811 white people who went to hospital for a heart attack or other symptoms and 650 others of the same age and sex with no signs of heart disease.
Previous studies looked for gene variations in fewer people with heart disease, without looking for the findings in other populations.
